Syndication

Thursday, October 26, 2006

On My Mind

A series of thoughts from the mind of a tired and overworked (yet reasonably paid) graphic designer:

The whole thing with Michael J. Fox’s ad is intriguing me right now. Was the ad manipulative? Certainly. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a passionate and honest belief in his cause. Debate the issue--the focus on Fox just seems misplaced.

I just watched the movie September Tapes--an uninformed impulse rental that was so far from being good that I have to question my own sanity. The movie is so arrogant, the characters so unlikable, the mix of real footage with Blair Witch-inspired hideous script and plot go far in explaining why I had never heard of the film. What remains confusing is how anyone ever thought that this derivative, self-satisfied piece of crap was worth making.

The central concept is that a man is driven to make a documentary a year after 9/11. He, a cameraman, and an interpreter go on an unsanctioned trip to Afghanistan to find Osama and the rest of his terrorist crew. The reality is that these guys did go to Afghanistan to film, they probably saw a lot of interesting things, and captured some compelling footage. If they’d left it at the reality, it might have made a good flick.

What they did was dress up the thing with poorly written dialog, some credibility-shaking re-shoots, and ended with a blatantly manipulative bit of audio that left me not so much disappointed as honestly pissed.

Just don’t do it.

I hate politics.

That’s obviously not true, but I am getting awfully tired of the political ads, the inflating of small issues into giant arguments, and the creepy faces of the candidates--overly scripted, rarely honest, always opportunistic--continually crawling along on my TV screen. Just make it stop.

If you happen to be at a certain local industry show at the Denver Convention Center on November 8 or 9, look me up. I’ll be there babysitting a couple laptops.

Barbershop is my chosen antidote for the sin of renting September Tapes. In case you were wondering.

Mark Lanegan continues to expand his musical vision. He guests on Baldwin Brothers--a kind of electronic, jazzy, eclectic funk group that plays something far more dance-oriented than Lanegan’s usual rock music. He sounds good on the track, “The Party’s Over” (available on iTunes). His voice sounds well-rested and strong. Good stuff.

For another iTunes hit of Lanegan, check out the new Twilight Singers, A Stitch in Time. It features two covers--Massive Attacks “Come Live With Me” and the Fat Freddy’s Drop tune “Flashback"--with Lanegan on lead. It’s a great little five songs with catchy rock and the Twilight Singers’ usual attitude and bravado. The last song, “The Lure Would Prove Too Much”, is one of those strange little gems that you’ll find it playing in your head over and over again as you fall asleep at night. If the mythical Gutter Twins album (a Lanegan-Dulli collaboration) sounds this good, then it is going to be mighty good. Screaming Trees good, if you take my meaning.